Turks, Armenians clear snag to sign accord
By MATTHEW LEE (AP)
10 oct 09
ZURICH ‘ Turkey and Armenia have signed an accord to establish
diplomatic relations after a century of enmity, as U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton helped the two sides clear a last-minute
snag.
The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed the agreement in the
Swiss city of Zurich on Saturday after a late dispute over the final
statements they would make.
Officials say Clinton and mediators from Switzerland intervened to help
broker a solution.
The accord is expected to win ratification from both nations’
parliaments and could lead to a reopening of their border that has been
closed for 16 years.
But nationalists on both sides are still seeking to derail
implementation of the deal.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
information. AP’s earlier story is below.
ZURICH (AP) ‘ U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plunged
into dramatic last-minute diplomacy on Saturday to salvage a historic
accord between Turkey and Armenia aimed at normalizing ties after a
century of enmity.
The deal was supposed to establish diplomatic relations to be signed by
the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers in the Swiss city of Zurich,
with Clinton among world dignitaries in attendance. But a dispute over
statements the ministers would make sparked a delay, forcing her
intervention.
"She’s involved in working out an agreeable text," a senior U.S. State
Department official said.
American officials said Clinton; the top U.S. diplomat for Europe,
Philip Gordon; and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey were
engaged in furious high-stakes shuttle diplomacy with the Turkish and
Armenian delegations to resolve the differences.
Diplomats said the Armenians were concerned about wording in the
Turkish statement that was to be made after the signing ceremony at
University of Zurich and had expressed those concerns "at the last
minute" before the scheduled signing ceremony.
Clinton had arrived at the ceremony venue after meeting separately with
the Turks and Armenians at a hotel, but abruptly departed without
leaving her car when the problem arose.
She returned to the hotel where she spoke by phone from the sedan in
the parking lot, three times with the Armenians and four times with the
Turks. At one point in the intervention, a Swiss police car, lights and
siren blazing, brought a Turkish diplomat to the hotel from the
university with a new draft of his country’s statement.
After nearly two hours, Clinton and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian met in person at the hotel and drove back to the university
where negotiations continued. It was not clear if there would be a
resolution.
The Turks and Armenians are to sign an accord establishing diplomatic
ties in hope of reopening their border and ending a century of acrimony
over their bloody past.
Their parliaments are expected to ratify it, but nationalists on both
sides are seeking to derail implementation of the agreement. Major
countries, however, expressed their support for the accord, with the
foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, France and the European
Union in the room to watch the signing.
In Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country was
showing "goodwill" to restore ties with Armenia. But he said Turkey was
keen on seeing Armenian troops withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian-occupied enclave in Azerbaijan that has been a center of
regional tensions.
"We are trying to boost our relations with Armenia in a way that will
cause no hard feelings for Azerbaijan," Erdogan told reporters.
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said his country was taking
"responsible decisions" in normalizing relations with Turkey, despite
what he called the unhealable wounds of genocide.
The agreement calls for a panel to discuss "the historical dimension"
of the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during World War
I. The discussion is to include "an impartial scientific examination of
the historical records and archives to define existing problems and
formulate recommendations."
That clause is viewed as a concession to Turkey, which denies genocide,
contending the toll is inflated and that those killed were20victims of
civil war.
"There is no alternative to the establishment of the relations with
Turkey without any precondition," said Sarkisian. "It is the dictate of
the time."
Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French Foreign
Minister Bernard Kouchner were among the leaders who were on hand to
attend the signing, when it takes place.
Better ties between Turkey, a regional heavyweight, and poor,
landlocked Armenia are a priority for President Barack Obama. They
could help reduce tensions in the troubled Caucasus region and
facilitate its growing role as a corridor for energy supplies bound for
the West.
Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, thanked Turkey, which is
a candidate for EU membership.
"This is an important cooperation, no doubt, of Turkey to solve one
issue that pertains to a region which is in our neighborhood," Solana
told AP Television News after arriving in Zurich.
Switzerland, which mediated six weeks of talks between Turkey and
Armenia to reach the accord, is hosting the signing.
Necati Cetinkaya, a deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and
Development Party, defended the deal, saying "sincere steps that are
being taken will benefit Turkey." He said Turkey is aiming to form
friendly ties with all its neighbors and could benefit from trade with
Armenia.
But Yilmaz Ates of the main opposition Republican People’s Party said
Turkey should avoid any con
cessions.
"If Armenia wants to repair relations … then it should end occupation
of Nagorno-Karabakh. That’s it," Ates said Saturday.
About 10,000 protesters rallied Friday in Armenia’s capital to oppose
the signing, and a tour of Armenian communities by Sarkisian sparked
protests in Lebanon and France, with demonstrators in Paris shouting
"Traitor!"
On the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Turks have close cultural and linguistic
ties with Azerbaijan, which is pressing Turkey for help in recovering
its land. Turkey shut its border with Armenia to protest the Armenian
invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993.
Turkey wants Armenia to withdraw some troops from the enclave area to
show goodwill and speed the opening of their joint border, but Armenia
has yet to agree, said Omer Taspinar, Turkey project director at the
Brookings Institution in Washington.
"We may end up in a kind of awkward situation where there are
diplomatic relations, but the border is still closed," Taspinar said.
Associated Press Writers Alexander G. Higgins and Bradley S. Klapper in
Zurich, Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Christopher Torchia in
Istanbul contributed to this report.